Petrov Case

The Petrov Case (ペトロフ事件, Petorofu jiken) is a 1950 mystery fiction novel by a Japanese novelist, Tetsuya Ayukawa.

The story was also the first in a long series of novels featuring the same protagonist, “Detective Onitsura”.

Set in Manchukuo before World War II, Detective Onitsura, formerly of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police is assigned to Harbin, which has a large cosmopolitan population creating unique problems and difficulties for the police.

He then must travel to Dalian, to investigate the murder of a rich Russian émigré at a summer home near Ganjungzi in the Kwantung Leased Territory.

The novel won a contest sponsored in 1949 by the popular mystery magazine Hoseki (“Jewel”) with a grand prize of one million yen to mark its third anniversary of publication.